Secrecy
by Shinsei Yume
Summary: Tsukushi isn't your average angel. She's blunt, sarcastic, and deals with the supernatural forces. Yeah, you heard me. Supernatural forces. So what happens with she enters the "haunted" Eitoku and meet up with the four guys of F4?
1. My name is Makino Tsukushi

I sipped my cappuccino, its sweet flavor richly melting in my mouth. Satisfied, I smiled and turned my attention to the Sing Tao newspaper that was placed in front of me. The café was really cute, with its small round tables, tall red umbrellas, and beautiful blooming roses that were handsomely planted. It was one of the reasons why it caught my attention. I knew I had to enter as I was walking pass it, having a hunch that it'll be a good place for me to have breakfast.

And I was right. The food, desserts, and the drinks, were scrumptious.

The glass door of the café pushed opened, and the people who strolled in immediately caught my eye. Four gorgeous guys had walked inside the room, and I sucked my breath in awe.

The first person, evidently the leader of the group, was well-built, and though his hairstyle was a little bit too much, his good-looking face made up for it. The second young man had a "gentleman" aura, especially with his thin gold-rimmed glasses. The third was a cheery type, I noticed, with his big grin. He was the only one with short hair in the group, and his bangs fell elegantly down to his twinkling eyes. The final one was in the back; his head facing the ground and his slightly messy layered hair added a nice facet to his thin face. Though he had fine features, his eyes were what got my attention. They were mysterious and enigmatic, yet with a hint of forlorn inside them.

They were certainly the four most attractive and striking guys I have ever met just wandering in the streets. I felt my mouth open a little bit as they turned their backs towards me, looking at the menus on the whiteboard. God, even their backs looked good.

What?

Okay, appearances aren't that important to me in a relationship, and I wouldn't like someone mainly because of how they look. But I'm a girl, so I can't help it if I'm attracted to four handsome men. And it isn't an everyday thing for me to see such hot guys in my presence.

They started to call order and sat down at one of the tables next to mine. Taking a deep breath, I tried to ignore them and focus on my newspaper and freshly brewed cappuccino.

Who am I, exactly? My name is Makino Tsukushi, a 20-year-old young woman, graduating out of college two years before most people, and currently working as a cop. Other then that, nothing special, right?

Wrong.

I suppose this would be a good time to pull an "I see dead people" thing here. But I should replace the words with, "I beat up evil things, you know, the usual ghosts, demons, vampires, werewolves, and things like that". Yes, I know. You're probably thinking that this girl is crazy and that these things don't exist in the world. They just can't.

Well, get a clue, buddy. They do, and they can. I know. I mentioned that I was a cop, right? Yeah, a "special" kind of cop. The kind that kills the dirty, evil things in the world. That's my job, and I'm currently new in the League. The League where a special group of people, the so-called "cops", get together and defeat the nasty. Want to know why it's special, besides the whole killing-supernatural-things-that-no-one-believes-in?

Magic powers.

Oh yeah. I'm pulling your rockers, aren't I? The college that I mentioned? It's a college that teaches the Yuui. Yuui are the people, who are, obviously, gifted and have magical powers. And they use that to defeat the evil. So here I am, a graduate of the college, Kijutsu University, and the newest and youngest member of the Itsumademo League.

Though our union is quite unknown to simple-minded people, the members of it are able to get a rich living out of it. That's how I'm able to feast myself on Pradas and Chanels. I'm just a regular shopaholic. But this wasn't the reason why I joined. It wasn't to get money, and let my parents have the rest of their lives to indulge in money and riches. Since my parents passed away a long time ago, I can't exactly give them money, now can I?

Yup. I'm an orphan, and have been one since the age of seven. The Yuui ones don't necessarily have to join the League, but I chose to, in order to repay the debt I owe Sensei. My parents were caught in the middle of a huge war that happened in Europe, the war clashing with demons and members of the League. No one survived in the war, and many demons were vanquished as well. My beloved Sensei was the one who took care of me when he found me parentless and alone.

Okay, so he tries to be gruff and rough, but he's really a softie inside. This I know from the many times I've given him my adorable puppy eyes, asking him to do something for me.

It always works.

As I say, he's a sweet old man. Sensei is like two parents for me, and I'm luckier then most orphans because they have to stay inside the orphanage until they become of age. From a young age, I've learned my martial arts skill from him, learned to develop my powers, and even learned about Kijutsu University and the League from him. How exactly? He's also a member, except for that the tiny fact that he's one of the top leaders who we call "Tatsujin".

I owe Sensei my life, and I will certainly risk my life for him if it ever come down to that. Without him, there wouldn't be a Makino Tsukushi on Earth. But until then, I had to think of something else to repay him, and what better way then joining the League and defeating the evil creatures that we detest? But let's stop it with the mushy stuff. I'm getting my eyes all wet.

Isn't my life just full of quirks and adventures? Being in the league isn't all that fun, considering how you can die any moment you fight. But I always tend to think that if you die, as least it's for a cause, right? And you're just one person in the world… and if you died, it wouldn't make a difference to anyone, right?

… At least that's how I tend to think it. I guess this is probably the reason why I'm still single. So I try not to get too close to anyone, but hey! That doesn't mean I can't check out guys. Especially ones that look like male models from Calvin Klein.

My cell phone rang its little "Fur Elise" song and I automatically grabbed it from my purse.

"Hello?" I answered, deeply aware that the four hunks were sitting close by me and could listen to everything I say.

"Tsukushi," a deep voice called out. "It's Sensei."

"Hey, so you finally know how to work the cell phone?" I joked around, amused. Don't get me wrong, but Sensei is quite the out-dated type, and he usually prefers to use the old fashioned mailing system, unless he has to notify someone immediately.

"Very funny, Tsukushi. Remember what your mission is."

I rolled my eyes. He also tends to nag quite a lot. "Yes, I know.." I leaned back in my chair. "Enroll in the Eitoku University because there were some signs of it being haunted." I quickly noticed how the guys sitting at the table next to me glanced my way, and looked at me weirdly.

Great. It's always been my dream to have four handsome hotties look at me and think I'm crazy.

…Not.

"Don't roll your eyes, Tsukushi," Sensei said in a stern voice. I laughed, despite the fact that I was now proclaimed crazy by the four men. It's not as though I could help it; Sensei knew me all too well.

I sighed; making sure that Sensei could hear me. "Okay, okay," I replied in an exasperated tone. "Bye."

"Tsukushi!" he snapped.

"What?" I said, alarmed.

There was a moment's pause before Sensei finally talked. "Be careful," he warned.

I smiled to myself as I heard those words. See? I told you he was a big old softie inside.

"Thanks, Sensei."

Wow.

It was the only word I could think of at that time I entered Eitoku University.

I felt my jaw drop wide open as my eyes enlarged at the sight of the grand school.

Yeah, you guessed it.

I HAD to be pretty amazed, since looking like a fish with my mouth forming the letter "o" and my eyes bulging out wasn't anything I had in mind. Okay, so I was at the university as an "undercover"…

but hey, give me a break here. Who doesn't want to make a good impression?

Especially somewhere as nice as this school. Mind you, I said the school, not the people.

Yeah, I got my first impression of the rich, snobbish people of Eitoku.

I could feel their criticizing eyes glaring upon my back, and hating the sight of me. Why exactly?

Oh, not because I was oh-so-beautiful and they were jealous of me. Nope, not at all.

It was obvious it was because of the way I dressed. Sensei informed me that he wanted me to have a low profile. You know, the whole mysterious thing, be as quiet as I can, and minding my own business. In other words, he wanted me to be like Jess in "Gilmore Girls".

Er… except the whole "bad boy" thing.

So he didn't want anyone to go checking up on me and even though we already created this fake profile for me… he still insisted.

"Better to be safe then sorry," he always says.

Oh well. At least I get to keep my name.

Here I was, dressed in these second handed ripped jeans and a plain white T-shirt that says "Bossini" on it. Oh, I don't think Bossini was bad, so don't get me wrong. But apparently, it didn't match the standards for a top notch university.

Well, at least it was comfortable and the people who can't stand the sight of me can just go to he-.

Okay, okay. I'll mind the language.

I continued to ignore the eyes and decided to start walking to the main office. If it wasn't for the "low profile" thing, I would have probably shrieked my head off at them. But I shudder to think what Sensei would say.

So… I shall keep my cool and remind myself that I earn money using my own two hands. Unlike them, who has to depend on their parents all the time, even for a cup of coffee.

Literally.

As I rounded off a corner, you'll never guess who I ran into. Nope, not in a million years.

……

Fine, you probably guessed it.

The four guys I met at the café… surprising, huh? So their backs were facing me, but it was obvious it was them. I never forget good-looking guys easily. So much for my short-term memory.

I mean, what are the chances? And what are the chances that they were talking about me. Yup. A big wowie. It WAS really obvious they were talking about me anyways. I don't think they've met any other girl at a café who called Eitoku University haunted.

I quickly hid back behind the wall, and started to listen to their conversation.

What? Wouldn't you eavesdrop too if you knew the main conversation they were talking about was you?

… Don't pretend.

"Wasn't that girl we met at the café a little weird?" The guy with the thin gold-rimmed glasses and sophisticated aura asked.

"No kidding…" says the person with the happy-go-lucky smile.

"If you ask me, she's off her bonkers," the leader of the group answered nonchalantly.

HELLO? They were talking about me as if I wasn't there!

... Oh wait.

I wasn't, according to them.

"Who would imagine, Eitoku University, one of the top ten schools in Japan, would be haunted? She's definitely crazy," the leader guy continued.

I glared to no one in particular. Hmph! Imagine me going to save them from ghosts while these people think I'm crazy. Ungrateful little jerks… Well, not so little, but you get my point.

"But I got to admit, Tsukasa," the sophisticated man started to say. "For an insane person, she's pretty cute."

Ohhhh… so that leader guy is called Tsukasa.

… hang on.

Did he just call me cute?

I felt my cheeks blush hotly and I grinned, despite the fact I was known as the mental person to them. I have to admit, I'm starting to like that guy more and more. I inched in closer to the corner of the white wall in order to hear their conversation clearer.

"Aw… Soujiro," the person with the huge grin started to tease, "Don't tell me you found your next victim already!"

I raised my eyebrows as he said those words. Apparently, Soujiro was a playboy. There was a moment's pause where he started chuckling heartily.

"Akira, just because I said she was cute doesn't mean she's my type," he said. "She seems way too innocent and naïve to my liking."

I opened my mouth in shock. No one has ever called me that before. No one has ever DARED to call me that.

NO ONE.

I clenched my hands together. "I'll show you innocent and naïve," I muttered to myself, "especially when my two fists reach the side of your handsome face, Soujiro."

"Forget it guys," a deep and new voice started to speak. "She's her-."

The voice had to be the mysterious guy's voice, since he's the only one that I haven't heard. I couldn't hear the rest of his sentence though, for a little interruption got in the way.

A girl's scornful voice broke deep into my concentration and annoyed, I turned around to see who it was.

Two girls, their faces filled with disdain and contempt was looking at me from head to toe. Their arms were crossed at their chest, and they had their chins held way up high. One of them was a girl with long black hair, glitter splashed horribly all over her face and arms, and wearing the latest Gucci. The other had short hair, her mouth big and puffy, and was terribly thin. Like her friend, she wore the top fashions of the year.

"Yuriko, who's this rag in front of us?" The girl with the short hair say exclaimed.

My eyes widen as I heard her rude voice.

Rag? She called me a rag?

"Gee, I really don't know, Yamano. Just get her out of the way." Her companion replied.

Okay, that was it. I really REALLY couldn't stand it anymore. For these two people to call me names when I'm standing right in front of them is just plain old rude.

Yeah, and that's coming from me, the sarcasm queen.

And they were talking very loud deliberately, as if they wanted the whole school to know that they were superior then me.

Taking a deep breath, I glared at the two girls. "You know, Yuriko, wasn't it?" I started to say, "Love the Gucci, but the glitter? Guess your maids didn't apply them for you." I shook my head. "Sorry, it just doesn't work."

I saw her gasp in shock, but it was quickly recovered by another huge fill of scorn. I smirked and turned towards the girl with the short hair. "For someone so painfully thin, your mouth really is your biggest feature," I stated seriously. Yamano's eyes widen, and wrinkling her nose, she gave her hair a little toss with her hand.

"Who do you think you are?" Yuriko asked me in anger. "Criticizing us when you're just a scum; a poor girl trying to enter OUR university."

I smiled falsely, and glanced at her. "At least I don't have a nose that looks like Michael Jackson's."

Her jaw drop in astonishment and fury. "How dare you? This… This is Julia Robert's nose!"

I chuckled and sadly shook my head at them. It was actually quite sad, how some people in this supposedly top grand school can be so stupid. "Then you got ripped off."

At the corner of my eye, I saw Yamano's hand rising from her side, as if she was going to slap me.

Oh joy! Now, I'll get to have an excuse for Sensei when I'm through with these two girls. Her hand started to swing at me weakly, and I started to prepare to duck. Unfortunately, she hadn't even reached me by a foot when another hand grabbed hers. .

Annoyed at missing my chance, I glanced up to see who it was.

Yeah, you can probably guess who it was, huh?

I saw the four gorgeous guys standing right next to me now, and the hand which grabbed Yamano's was the happy-go-lucky one, the one who was called Akira. He quickly released her hand, and Yamano fell back some steps, her face no longer holding the disdain against me. Instead, she looked at him in terror and, yet for some reason, awe.

"Mima - Mimasaka Akira…" she said politely as she bowed her head at him.

"What's going on here?" he said in a low voice.

"W- we were just walking along are way when this person," Yuriko pointed at me, "starts calling us names!"

My eyebrows rose as I turned back to look at her. "Calling you names?" I asked her in a disbelieving tone.

"If I see this again, I won't let you two off so easily." Akira told them. "Go."

I opened my mouth in protest. After all, it was MY fight, and I wasn't finished with it yet. Unfortunately, they hurriedly scrambled away. Taking a deep breath, I looked at him, irritated.

He grinned as he bowed fancily at me. "Mimasaka Akira, at your presence."

When I didn't reply, his smile faltered and he looked at me questioningly. "What? No thank you?"

I laughed a short laugh, and crossed my arms. "Thank you? For what?" I demanded.

"Um…" he turned to look at his fellow friends, who were as astonished as he was. "For protecting you?"

I glared at him. "For your information, Mimasaka Akira, I don't need anyone to protect me. Just in case you're thinking me as innocent and naïve." I echoed Soujiro's phrases.

He and Soujiro looked at each other at surprise, and they started chuckling. "I'm guessing you overheard." Soujiro asked.

"No kidding."

"Eh!" The leader, Tsukasa suddenly spoke out. "Do you know who we are?"

I tilted my head in mock confusion. "Should I know?"

Actually, I expected him to say something about being models, or actors from parts of the world. That would sure explain why they look drop-dead gorgeous.

"Shoul-," he paused for a few minutes. "You seriously don't know?" he asked doubtfully.

I rolled my eyes. I guess when they say that looks aren't everything, they also mean IQ too.

"Whatever," I hoisted my shoulder bag up into a more comfortable position. "I really don't care who you are. I just want to get this over with."

Turning around, I started to leave. It probably startled them a lot, since I just might be the only girl who has ever decided to leave them, and not give a phone number and a name.


	2. Flower 4 and Visions

I slowly stepped down the cold, hard stairs to enter a dim room. There were rows of cushion seats, and a little light had been left at the front.

The music room.

I could feel a strong presence coming from here, one that I had never felt before. So strong that I could have probably felt it miles and miles away.

Great. Just great.

The first day at Eitoku University and I already feel something abnormal.

I shudder to think what will come the second day.

My Adidas sneakers hardly formed a noise, and my eyes darted around like a bullet, checking to see if anything was going to jump out and leap at me.

Okay, you're probably thinking I'm being paranoid, since this WAS Eitoku University we're talking about.

But you never know these sorts of things. And I know from past experience that things do tend to hurdle at you, whether you like it or not. Many many bones were broken after that, and it was SO not fun at all.

I think I'll try to keep my body the way it is now, thank you very much.

"What are you doing here?" A cold, familiar voice snapped through my thoughts as I sat down on the cool piano bench.

Even without turning my head from the black and white keys, it was obvious who that voice belonged too. Yeah, you see, it's not really that easy to forget the sound of a wintry and aloof voice, especially if they belonged to cute guys.

I know, I know. I'm helpless, aren't I?

Hey, give me a break here. I'm 20 years old and dateless. Try to imagine the state of position I'm in.

I tilted my head towards him a little, and raised my eyebrows slightly. "Last time I checked, the music room belonged to everyone."

His expression twitched for a second or so, and I could feel his eyes gazing onto me.

Okay, I tried to ignore it. I really did. I mean, guys checking me out, or looking at me, was SUCH an improvement. But hey, after 10 minutes of that, I finally snapped.

Can you blame me? I felt all conscious of every movement that I make, so I didn't move at all. Who WOULDN'T crack?

Fine, probably models, since they were probably used to having to pose. But I'm not trained to be someone prancing around in Chanels and Armanis on stage, so… erm… yeah. You get my drift.

"Hey, stop staring."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his mouth move a little into an amused expression. And it was quite nice actually. The first time I've seen that guy smile, or attempt to, at least.

So I turned my head towards him, and stared straight into those distant and mysterious eyes. We looked at each other for quite a long time, actually… until the bell rang.

And it was SUCH a magical moment too. I blinked... like a hundred times at the sound of the sudden bell, and finally snapped out of our little staring contest.

DAMN SCHOOL BELL!

Urgh, it is… WAS, one of the best times in like 10 years with a guy that's not like 30 years older then me, a.k.a Sensei, and it was ruined in a spilt second by a stupid loud bell.

I officially hate them, starting today.

The damage was done though, and there was nothing I could do about it. Gathering up my bag, I quickly hoisted it onto my shoulder, and started to step right back up the stairs.

"Um… see you next time," I said uncertainly. He didn't say anything, but it seemed to me that he nodded slightly.

Well, it's an improvement, at least.

I slowly walked out of the room as the last tones of the bell echoed. Suddenly, I felt something hard. Not physically, but emotionally. And it didn't come from somebody… somebody with a beating heart, at least. I bit my lip until I felt warm liquid spreading towards the inside of my lips.

Hatred. It was a powerful hatred… no, love. Strong love… Jealousy and painful sadness. I could feel my heart aching, as if getting gripped tightly by a fist. I shook my head wildly, trying to snap out of it. Abruptly, my eyes burned hotly and my head seemed to explode. The scenario shifted as gray images slowly fading clearer. I saw the back of a guy, staring at a woman's body that was on a bed. The woman… was lovely. There was no other way to explain it, except that she was beautiful. Simply beautiful. Her eyes were shut tightly, and I could see a dry trail of tears of her porcelain face.

"DON'T GO! SHIZUKA! I NEED YOU!" he screamed aloud.

"AH!" My visions shifted back to the familiar sightings of Eitoku University. A pair of strong arms held my shoulders tightly, and my eyes were staring at a red shirt of a man… apparently, a well-built man. I could feel drops of sweat dripping down my face, and my hands were all clammy and cold.

"Hey, you okay?" The gentle face of Mimasaka Akira looked into my deep eyes, and it looked genuinely concerned.

Gasping for breath, as if I was suffocated, I could feel my mouth forming into a small smile.

"Yeah… yeah, I'm fine," I answered him. Yeah, I was as fine as hell. I was cold all over, and yet sweating like a pig, my hair was probably all sticky from the sweat, my head felt as if a iron hammer had dropped down on it, I had a million questions about the vision I just had, and I was suddenly very VERY aware that I probably looked constipated or something.

Oh, I was completely fine.

Though I don't think I got him convinced, since his arms were still on my shoulders and he was still looking at me with worry. Oh, and the fact that as soon as I started to try to remove his hands from me, I could see darkness slowly creeping to my eyes… and I blacked out.

The next thing I knew, I was on a bed and a guy was bending over me.

… So I did what any girl would have done if she was in my position.

"PERVERT!" I yelled out and gathering up what little strength I had left, I slapped him.

Of course, it was AFTER I slapped him that I gained back my conscience. I felt my clothes still intact… and I saw who I slapped.

It was that leader guy… the guy called Tsukasa.

And from what I could see, he was in shock as my handprint left a huge red mark on his handsome face.

… whoops.

Mimasaka Akira and Soujiro was evidently, also in shock too as they looked at me, and then him, and then me again.

Suddenly, they started cracking up… very very loudly. I could see Tsukasa's jaw tighten as he snapped out of his astonishment and looked at his two friends. Apparently, he didn't seem to find it funny at all.

Gee, I wonder why.

"Um…" I started to speak hesitantly, "… sorry?"

Tsukasa straightened up and glared down at me. "And WHY did you slap me?"

I started to laugh nervously as I twiddled my thumbs. "Um… yeah, see. I thought you were trying to erm… 'touch' me, so… yeah." I glanced up at him hopefully and grinned apprehensively.

What I said seemed to be hilarious to Akira and Soujiro, for they continued to laugh harder, if that was even possible. Okay, it didn't help the situation at all, really.

Tsukasa continued to stare down at me though. It seemed as if I was getting going to get into, yet, another staring contest.

Soujiro was finally able to stop for a second or two, and between gasping for breaths, he said, "Tsukasa, a womanizer? He BLUSHES at the mentioning of… of…"

I could see he wasn't going to finish his sentence, for he started getting into a laughing fit again. But I had a pretty strong impression of what he was going to say. It was kind of obvious.

I was starting to get a little bit defensive. I mean, come on!

"Hey, quit it," I said tensely. "You can't BLAME me for what I did. I did what any other girl would have done. It was SO not my fault. I didn't know what he was bending over me for. And I didn't even really see who it was. And I was still a little unconscious. And… and… and…" I continued to babble on and on with the 'ands' until Tsukasa interrupted me.

"I was bending over you to put a towel on your forehead. Excuse me for trying to be nice," he said angrily. I lowered my eyes to his hands, where I could see him clutching a wet purple towel.

… double whoops.

"Heh heh…" I rather said nervously. "Um… sorry again."

He rolled his eyes at me and turned towards the laughing jokers. "You two want to get hit?" he barked out loud.

Amazingly, it shut them up. Not instantly, but it eventually did.

"So… where am I and why am I here?" I questioned Akira.

He combed his hair back with his hands and looked at me. "You fainted. What was I going to do? Leave you on the ground?"

"… yeah?" I answered him back, but then, I was suddenly very alert of the fact that in order for him to bring me into this unknown place, he had to carry me. CARRY ME. I could feel my cheeks blush at the idea, but the three guys seemed to be oblivious to it. Probably used to having girls blushing at their presence or something.

Akira rolled his eyes and smiled. "So what happened?"

"I…" I started to speak, but then clamped my mouth shut. So I had a vision, a weird one, in fact. But that wasn't what was on my mind. I mean, if you went to a school for the 'gifted' and is the adopted daughter of a great master of magic… you'd get used to some strange stuff that goes around. I've SEEN weirder things happen before, after all.

But what WAS on my mind was about the vision. Because the guy that had his back to me… it was someone I knew. A particularly CUTE guy with a voice I wouldn't… couldn't forget.

And the woman… the woman who lay on frilly silk bed. Who WAS she?

"… I was just tired," I responded back to Akira lamely. These three didn't need to know about what I saw, however handsome they were.

He raised his eyebrows, obviously not believing me. But he didn't say anything about it more, and started to introduce himself again.

"We haven't been properly introduced," he said. "Well, we have… but you didn't seem to notice. I'm Mi -."

"Yeah, I remember. Mimasaka Akira," I interrupted.

Soujiro stepped forward and bowed.

Boy, these people sure are polite... even though Soujiro called me innocent and naïve. Yeah, see… I still can't forget about that.

"I'm Nishikado Soujiro," he presented.

"How can I forget?" I said edgily. "The guy who pronounced me 'innocent and naïve'.

He started chuckling heartily again and folded his arms across his chest. "You're not going to forget that, are you?"

"Hm…" I pretended to ponder with sarcasm. "No."

"And that guy over there," he pointed to Tsukasa, "has the nastiest temper out of all of us, so watch out. He's Doumyouji Tsukasa."

Nastiest temper? Pity for such a cute guy… but I suppose his looks make up for it. And he didn't seem to be the angry type to me... I mean, trying to put a towel on my forehead was a pretty nice thing to do. And he didn't seem to explode when I slapped him for nothing.

"We're called F4."

I looked at him in questioning. "The other guy that was with you… he's the fourth member, right? What's his name?"

Akira widen his eyes a little bit and started grinning widely. "Why so interested?" he chirped.

I sighed in exasperation. "… Shut up," I chided him, but then immediately regret it. Yeah, shut up. Great comeback, Tsukushi. Very witty. Telling someone to shut up.

"Hanazawa Rui," Akira replied. "But you know, if you wanted to ask someone something, being polite is usually the best way to get an answer back," he said with mock hurt in his voice.

I didn't bother to answer him back, for I was too busy playing the name over and over again in my head and wondering. WHY was Hanazawa Rui in my vision?

-

After all my years of experience ever since I was a little child, I've found out that the best way to get straight answers was just to ask them directly to the people involved. And hey, if they didn't want to answer it or even lied about it, I would just resort to Plan B.

Beating it out of them.

You can't BLAME me for using this plan, I mean, it's worked for quite a while. I always got straight answers after, and that's the important thing. And come on! The people I've beat the answers out of were either A) Highly or evilly involved and/or B) A murderer themselves.

Thus, you can't really blame me, since this logic made completely sense to me. No error, no false.

Therefore, I've never been in this situation before. I mean, in a situation where I have to ask Hanazawa Rui's three friends some questions and can't beat answers out of them. It was kind of annoying, actually, this new kind of technique. But whatever. I can't hit these three guys, since I don't even know what I'm even dealing with! So they're innocent… for now.

Oh, and there was the little fact that I've never beaten guys as cute as them before… and they might try to hit back. Looking at the way they're built, I'll say that if one of their punches reaches your face, you'd pretty much get knocked out.

So there I was, still sitting on the bed and wondering about the vision when a new idea suddenly just popped inside my head. I mean, Hanazawa Rui's three friends were obviously close to him since they formed a little club called "F4"… which probably meant "Friend 4" or something.

And come on! They were in front of me, waiting for someone to speak up or something.

Talk about perfect timing.

"So… erm..." I cleared my throat and decided to start introducing myself first. I had just realized that they didn't even know my name and I didn't bother to tell them. "I'm Makino Tsukushi," I said in this false cheery voice.

"We know," Soujiro said nonchalantly.

I blinked as this slowly began to take in. "Oh…" I didn't bother wondering where they got this information. For one thing, they probably went to the office and charmed the secretary with their deadly handsome looks and bribed her to give them my information.

… Though I don't know why they bothered to know my name. And as far as I know, the secretary is like 40 years older then them, so… ew.

People really CAN resort to whatever way possible to get what they want.

Talk about disgusting.

Okay, fine. I probably shouldn't be talking, since I decide to beat answers out of people. But hey, this really isn't the point!

"So what does F4 mean?" I asked, attempting to start another conversation, since the first one I tried obviously failed… horribly.

"Flower 4," Akira said nonchalantly as he swoop his hair back again.

… FLOWER 4? FLOWER 4? I mean, come on! What, were they suppose to be feminine guys or something? Whoever in their group made that name up must have been pretty out of it, as far as I can tell.

I coughed, attempting to cover my snickering at their name. After all, I still had to ask them some questions.

Thankfully, they didn't seem to realize it and Soujiro went and poured me a glass of water.

"Here you go," he said as he handed me the cup.

"Erm…. Thanks," I muttered as I took it in my hands. "By the way, this might seem a bit out of topic, but I met the Hanazawa Rui guy in the music room earlier… and… and I was wondering if he is always like that," I babbled quickly.

Tsukasa looked at me weirdly. "Like what?"

"I mean… like… distant, aloof… cold…."

For some reason, the three guys looked at each other darkly before turning back to me.

"Well… yeah," Akira said. "He's like that ever since we were little… but…" His voice died down as he started to stare at the ground.

"Things just happened lately and he got worse," Tsukasa said abruptly.

"Oh…" I said in a small voice. "Erm… Sorry."

Soujiro started to open his mouth and say something, but I never knew what he wanted to say, for at that moment, people started screaming loudly outside of the room.

"What the," Akira began as I jumped right out of the bed.

Which I regretted immediately because it turned out that my headache wasn't gone. In fact, I think it just gone up a notch.

Ouch.

But whatever, I'm used to these things. Yup, that's me. Makino Tsukushi, always on alert.

Anyways, me and the three guys quickly ran out of the room… where we saw a people crowding around a single girl… a familiar girl, I might add.

Yeah, remember the girl with the nose like Michael Jackson's?

It was her and she was screaming her head off. It seemed like a force was pulling her by the way, and I could see streaks of tears running down her face.

GREAT.

Might I add this is my FIRST DAY AT EITOKU UNIVERSTIY? Way to let a girl live, don't you agree?

I swore under my breath because the "force" turned out to be a woman ghost. Of course, others saw only an invisible force. A ghost to Yuui, people like us, look normal. We can touch them and see them like we can touch and see normal people, so you might be wondering how I could tell "she" is a ghost. To tell the truth, I… or Yuui just do. It's like how you know two plus two equals four. It's just one of the many things that we learn at Kijutsu University. Telling a ghost from a human.

I started clenching my fists and stared straight at the ghost… until I suddenly remembered something and I gasped.

The ghost looked just like the Shizuka girl from my vision. I felt my eyes widen with shock just as she turned her attention to Yuriko to me and smirked.

I glared at her.

"_Let her go,"_ I sent the message to her in my head. Another one of my powers, telepathy. Extraordinary, no?

"_Aww… why? I'm just having fun with her."_

Just then, Soujiro ran towards Yuriko, brushing past me slightly. He seemed to get the hint that something was dragging her hair. Even though he looked like a fool, he punched his fist right at the so-called "invisible" air… right on her face.

Whoa, talk about right on target.

However, the ghost Shizuka didn't to find it a good thing that it was right on target. In fact, she screeched loudly in pain and let go of Yurkio's hair. Glowering at him, her eyes started to burn a fiery red, and I could see fire lightening up from her hands.

Even though everyone couldn't see the ghost except me, they could DEFINITELY see two balls of fire floating in the air, heading straight at Soujiro.

"NO!" I yelled loudly, and sprinted with all my might straight at Soujiro, pushing him down on the ground.

Shizuka stopped, and fixed a stare at me.

"_You'll pay, my little friend," _she said in an icy voice.

"_Don't call me little," _I whispered fiercely. _"What are you doing here?"_

She smiled wickedly, and started flying away quickly. I swore under breath a few colorful words and started to run after her.

"Eh, Makino Tsukushi! Where are you going?" Tsukasa yelled after me.

I continued running without replying, staring straight at Shizuka.

What do you expect? I'm impatient and hated not getting answers.

I guess it's just her unlucky day meeting Makino Tsukushi.

-

A/N: Erm… yeah. Sorry for not updating so long. ;;

Review and I shall love you.

- S.Y


	3. Shizuka

"Damn," I muttered while gazing at the tall green trees. I was following Shizuka so intensely that I had no idea where I was going. I could tell that she was shocked that I could keep up with her.

"_What are you?" _ she screeched out.

"Um… try 100 human, unlike you," I said rudely. I probably ran four miles or something just chasing her, so you can imagine why I wasn't in such a "Hi, let's be friends!" mood. And on a side note, I do NOT look good when I sweat. "What are you doing here?"

"_He's mine. He'll always be mine. He promised that we'll be together. You better get your hands off him if you don't want to end up like that Yuriko girl," _she spat out.

… that made PERFECT sense.

"I don't know who "he" is, but fyi, buddy, you're DEAD. You can't do anything about it, except reincarnate. If you two are really meant to be, then you'll be together once again in your next lifetime."

"_I don't care anything about the next lifetime. I only want THIS lifetime," _she screamed out, getting angrier.

Can you spell "spoiled"?

BECAUSE I CAN! S-P-O-I- okay, I'll stop acting insane.

"Well then, I guess I have to MAKE you reincarnate then. It's not going to be very fun though," I said edgily.

"_I really don't like you at all,"_ Shizuka said in a cold voice.

"You know the saying," I replied calmly as my hands started to glow a mauve color. "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me."

"_Foolish little girl," _she smirked. _"Tell me, do you still hear your parents SCREAMING in your nightmares at night? The smell of blood surrounding you?"_

I stopped conjugating a fireball as her words rang in my ears. Forget how she appeared. Forget what she's doing here. Forget she tried to choke that Michael Jackson's girl. Forget EVERYTHING.

"Ho – How did you know?"

The rotten smell of burning flesh.

The sharp tang of blood and fire mixed into the air.

… The sound of my parents dying. Screaming. Crying.

_Yelling._

Yelling at me to get out. To run.

HOW DARE SHE?

"Let's say I'm not the only one who has powers," she smirked. "I can read anyone like an open book now… given what I am. I have the ability to tap into anyone's past and bring up their nightmares. Ones that they want to forget."

I fixed an icy stare at her, and warm feeling encircled me. I could feel my whole body glowing from rage. From sorrow.

_From guilt._

HOW DARE SHE?

She looked at me, surprised at the rage I was producing. A second passed, and I hurled a fireball at her.

A fireball with all my hate inside. With all the emotions I keep hidden in my interior. In my heart.

She dematerialized.

I stared.

A chilly breeze swept over me as I remembered what I was doing there, and I relaxed by taking deep, slow breaths.

"Damn," I said again as I glanced quickly at my surroundings. "Where am I?" I muttered silently to myself.

The heavy sound of feet scurrying behind me caused me to turn in that direction, and in front of me stood Akira, Tsukasa, and Soujiro. They stopped running as they saw me turn and look at them. They were only panting a little bit, and their faces showed no sign of running at all.

… Psh, I wasn't tired too.

Much.

"What are you doing just standing there?" Soujiro asked.

"Uh..." I muttered. There was absolutely NO way that I'll admit the fact that I was lost. "Uh... just admiring the scenery. It's really beautiful, don't you think?"

They looked around them. Huge looming decaying trees were planted randomly all over the place with their leaves brown and dying. Trash of all sorts were scattered all over the place. I could get glimpses of old banana peels, scraps of paper, and stuff that I couldn't even TELL what it was. Not to mention that the place smelled like rotten eggs.

Akira lifted an eyebrow at me.

Crap.

Just much for my suave answer.

"Heh…." I giggled nervously. "Beauty is within."

"Uh-huh…." Akira said. "In other words, you got lost."

I blinked a few times. "…maybe."

Soujiro sighed. "Come on, we'll take you back."

"So…" I slowly said as we started turning around. "You were telling me something about Hanazawa Rui…?"

The three guys turned to look at each other again.

Whoa. Talk about Déjà Vu.

"You see…" Soujiro began. "Rui wasn't always this quiet, but this girl that's… really really close to him died."

"He hasn't been the same since," Akira muttered.

I blinked. "Er… her name wouldn't happen to be Shizuka, would it?"

They all stared at me in surprise.

"How did you know? Toudou Shizuka," Tsukasa said.

… joy.

A few moments later, we reached the school. The crowd from the whole Yuriko-getting-attacked-by-a-dead-ghost thing seemed to dispersed, but there were still tons of people walking around. Hm… class must have ended. Come to think about it, I didn't go to class because I was too busy chasing Shizuka.

Oh darn it. P.S. Note the sarcasm.

"Um…" I turned around to face F3. "Thanks, I guess."

"No problem," Soujiro said. "It's nice to have at least one girl at this university not scared of us or trying to flirt with us with her breasts and butt."

He began to eye me from my head to my toes. "… Not that you could, even if you wanted to," he grinned.

I stared at him, my face growing red. "Mr. Nishikado," I said with my teeth clenched, "first you called me a little girl, and THEN you make fun of my body."

"I didn't say little girl, I said innocent."

"SAME THING!" I yelled. "You see, once upon a time, you don't just insult people you meet for the first time… or at least you don't do it in front of their faces. I could make a bunch of crude insults about your long oily hair… and... and…" I studied him from head to toe, imitating what he did to me. "Your girly fingers, your humongous feet, and your weird… weird…um… YEAH. But I don't, you see? Because I have something called manners," I pouted.

Okay, I lied. His fingers were far from girly, his feet weren't humongous, and his hair… was beautiful, even better than mine!. It might actually be the softest thing I've ever seen. And he had absolutely no weird body parts on him. Uh… from what I could tell. Not that I would know what's underneath those…

OKAY, NASTY MIND. EW, EW, EW.

Yes, I'm 20-years-old. No, I'm not 5.

He gazed at me and grinned again. "Feisty," he remarked.

I groaned exasperatedly as Akira laughed. "You really don't know who we are. If you did, you wouldn't say those things."

I turned to look at him. "Then tell me, who are you guys?"

"Easily said, we are the greatest," Tsukasa blurted out.

I blinked.

One Mississippi.

Two Mississippi.

"HAH!" I burst out, giggling loudly.

"What are you doing? I'm serious!" he said.

"Yeah, and I'm the Da S from ASOS," I chuckled. "Well, thanks for the laugh, but I have to go."

"HEY!" Soujiro yelled at me as I turned around, running. "You were kidding about my body, right?"

I waved my hand in reply, but before I turned the corner, I could hear him asking Tsukasa and Akira. "Um… she was kidding…right?"

Why, you ask? Why would I give those oh-so-precious time with three hot, drool-worthy guys?

I needed peace.

After my first day at school with visions, ghosts, and plenty of insults thrown in my way, you can't blame me. I was starting to think that maybe this was a little bit too much for me to take.

No. I never backed down from a mission, and I wasn't going to start.

I began climbing stairs while pondering about the Rui and Shizuka thing. I **was** going to ask F3 more about them, but since I wasn't all that close to any of them, it would have been kind of rude.

And I'd rather be friends with them then be enemies. So punching them wouldn't turn out all that great of an idea.

Rui and Shizuka. Rui and Shizuka.

How did Shizuka die? What is their story? What happened?

Granted, I didn't really want to help her, given what she said to me. Given what she did to me.

The only person that knew about my past was Sensei… and he didn't even know the full story. This woman just shows up and taps into a secret that I've been keeping silent since I was little. Damn her.

DAMN HER BIG.

But despite my personal feelings, it was my duty. My duty to help the dead, the lost, the vulnerable.

I scoffed as I reached a door.

I blinked, snapping out of my trance as I realized that I was at the very top of the school. I pushed the door opened as a relaxing breeze swept over me.

"Wow…" I whispered. The rooftop was obviously the only sanctuary that Eitoku University has. The sky was so blue and beautiful.

I walked to the edge and looked down, barely seeing the people walking down there. They looked like little colorful ants swarming around.

I snatched my cell phone out of my backpack and called Sensei's phone number.

"Hello?" Sensei's voice rang out.

In a matter of minutes, I told him everything that happened to me today… conveniently taken the part about Shizuka founding out my past out. He remained quiet as I was talking.

"If Toudou Shizuka can produce that kind of jealousy and kill anyone for this… Hanazawa Rui, she's not going to be easy," Sensei said.

"… I'll find a way," I muttered.

"Tsukushi, I don't want you to do anything until we find out more about her, understand? Meanwhile, protect Hanazawa Rui" Sensei commanded.

I rolled my eyes. "Fine."

PROTECT HIM? PROTECT HIM? He'll probably be the one protecting ME. I didn't mention to Sensei how well-built he and his friends were.

But I suppose that wouldn't have made a difference since they can't see her.

… okay, Sensei had a point.

"I'm serious, Tsukushi. Nothing at all," Sensei warned me.

"Alright, alright! But if she comes back and messes with me again, you know I wouldn't just stand there and take it."

"Just try. If you can't, then just do what you can do to divert her attention, and then run," Sensei said. "Are you feeling okay, Tsukushi? You don't seem like your usual self."

… And I thought my acting skills could match up to Andy Lau's.

Guess it's probably somewhere around the downer level of Lindsey Lohan's.

This day just keeps on getting better and better.

NOT.

"Of course I'm fine! Why wouldn't I be?" I asked in a fake cheery tone. "Oops, have another call coming. Bye!"

I quickly hung up the phone and gazed down again at the miniature people. Tears threatened to come out.

Okay? How could I be okay? Wasn't it my entire fault that they're dead? If I was so stupid, so rebellious, so…

"That wasn't very convincing."

My blood turned icy cold as I heard that aloof distant voice behind me. I slowly turned around.

"You… you were there the whole time?" My voice shook as I heard him.

He gazed at me. "I only heard the last part where you pretended everything was fine. I was asleep until you woke me up."

Oh.

"What do you mean, pretended?" I said as I tried to choke back a sob.

Great. I was going to wail like a banshee in front of this aloof, hot guy.

And have you ever HEARD a banshee wail? Trust me, NOT a very pleasant sound.

"You're about to cry," he stated.

Okay, what was WITH this guy? Why is it that somehow, he's able to perceive exactly what I was feeling?

"If you feel like crying," he continued, "just do a handstand and the tears that want to come out won't."

"… then you must do it often then," I replied.

He looked at me, and without a word, handed me a handkerchief.

"In case you don't know how to do a handstand," he said.

I took it, even though I knew how to. Who knows? It might come in handy someday.

"Tha-," I started to say, but he left.

… Weird. Sighing, I also turned to leave. As Sensei said, he wanted me to protect Hanazawa Rui, and if it means stalking him…

Then by god, I'll do it.

… Sensei is SO SO lucky he has me.

Opening the door, I descended from the stairs and walked towards my locker in silence. But not long after, I could hear snatches of whispers of people talking about me.

HELLO? They were doing it as I wasn't there. I CAN HEAR, PEOPLE.

"Yeah, that's the girl that Mimasaka Akira was protecting from Yuriko."

"Did you see her flirting with F3 in front of the school?"

"Yeah, so disgusting. Absolutely no class. Can you SEE what she's wearing?"

I rolled my eyes. Apparently, the whole fitting into the school and drawing no attention thing was not working. Oh well, what else can I do?

"SHUT UP!" A voice boomed out behind me, startling everyone, including me.

I turned around, and guess who I saw? Yup, F4. All four of them. Standing so magnificently straight in front of me, glowing with heaven's light and rings of halo around their heads. Oh, my knights in shining armor!

Uh… kidding. I have a tendency to daydream about nonsense. Please ignore me.

Okay, you probably are.

ANYWAYS, there they were, standing. The people that were whispering behind my backs quickly scampered away.

Cowards.

"Hey, thanks," I said to Tsukasa. I could totally tell it was his voice.

He grunted in reply. "Can't you defend yourself when people are talking about you?"

"Yeah," I said defensively. "I was about to, before you guys came."

"Right."

"After this whole day, can you finally tell me who you guys are?" I asked. "Why do people crowd around you guys, acting as if you're kings?"

Akira smirked. "Because we own the school?" It was a statement, not a question.

I widen my eyes. "Wha-?"

"Doumyouji Corporation, Hanazawa Enterprise, Mimasaka Company, and Nishikado Inc.?" Soujiro said.

… oh.

"Wow," I said. "That's why your last names were so familiar. But I didn't tie it in or anything…" I murmured.

"Scared?" Tsukasa asked arrogantly.

"No," I replied honestly. "Just feel sorry for you guys."

That caught them off. Even Hanazawa Rui showed a bit of emotion, his eyes flashing a bit. "I mean," I continued, "it must suck to have people scared of you and trying to lick your boots all day long. Not to mention that you're expected to follow the family business when you graduate, right? And being buried in a bunch of papers about stocks and investments isn't very fun… at least in my book, it isn't."

Akira gazed at me and smiled. "You really are something."

I smiled back at him. "I know," I joked.

Just then, a person came running to us. "F4, F4, F4!" he cried out, panting.

"What?" Tsukasa asked, annoyed.

"Yuriko… Yuriko... Yuriko's drowning in the pool!"

We stared at him in shock. "What the hell? Nobody can swim in the school?" I asked.

"We tried, but there seemed to be something pulling her down. We can't bring her up."

Shit. Shizuka.

"Where's the pool?" I asked frantically. "Let's go!"

------------------------------------

A/N: Yay, finally another update. I'm not sure if you know who Andy Lau is, but he is a really popular Chinese actor/singer. He made the Guinness World Records… ring a bell, anyone? And if you're a fan of Lindsey Lohan, um… sorry for the comment on her.

Review?

- S.Y


	4. Her Love

We reached the pool in a flash. Too worried to be tired, I saw Yuriko struggling in the pool, trying to gasp for breath. Her thin arms swung around wildly in the chloroform-filled water, and I could make out beneath all the splashes that her legs were kicking nonstop. However, despite all her attempts, she still didn't seem to be able to arise from the waters.

I looked around wearily for any sign of Shizuka, and ta-da! I spotted her sitting, well, actually floating, on one of the green bleachers near the side of the pool. She was laughing non-stop, and waved her hands like a conductor does in a orchestra.

Only… she wasn't making beautiful music.

She was trying to kill someone.

Groaning to myself at what I was about to do next, while F4 was staring at Yuriko in shock, I flung off my backpack and pushed it towards Akira.

"Hold this!" I said.

"Wait! What are you goin-…" His sentence faltered as he saw exactly what I was going to do.

Well, I couldn't just LEAVE Yuriko there. It'll go against all that I've learned, and a major deduct from my karma points.

Embracing myself with a huge gulp of air, I dived into the pool and free-styled my way towards Yuriko.

Cold.

That was the first thing that I thought of when I dived.

The second?

How I was SO going to ask for a major raise in my salary after this. Sensei had better get his wallet out and write me a huge, fat paycheck.

It was rather difficult to get to Yuriko, what with her swinging her arms around like a maniac and making giant waves that keeps on pushing me back.

"Dammit, Yuriko!" I bellowed out when I swam to the surface, panting from lack of breath. I was holding her two arms in my hands, trying to pull her up also. However, panicking because of the whole getting-drowned-by-invisible-air thing, she kept on struggling, unable to register anything in her mind. "Stop moving around!"

WHAM!

… You know what she did when I was attempting to help her get to the surface, without any thought about my clothes, my wet, strangled hair, and not to mention my CELLPHONE, which I had stupidly forgotten to take out of my pocket?

Yeah, she KICKED ME IN THE STOMACH.

This helping people thing was SO NOT going well. If everyone I help was going to hurt me and throw away my efforts, hell, I might as well just leave them hanging by their selves. Yeah, I totally should have done that.

Except that there was the little known fact that my conscience was still floating around somewhere in my brain.

DAMN IT.

The kick hurt. How could someone as skinny as her, with absolutely no muscle at all, kick so hard… I do not know. All that I was focusing on right there was trying to get her up, and trying to forget the pain she caused. And then, from the corner of my eye, I saw Shizuka, still laughing her head off.

I widen my eyes. The thought that I couldn't think of the simple idea that I just had thought of was astonishing, and I quickly cursed myself for being stupid and acting recklessly. Something that I definitely have to learn is to remain calm during a crisis.

Something that Sensei always reminded me of…

Guess I can't ask for the raise now.

Biting my lip to prevent myself from yelling at my frustration and my lack of IQ during the times that actually matters, I let go of Yuriko, who I noticed was starting to get weaker and weaker. I swam quickly towards the edge of the pool, and hastily pushed myself up and narrowed my eyes at Shizuka, who by then had stopped laughing, and stared at me.

"_Having fun?_" I hissed at her in my mind.

"_It would be much more enjoyable if you were in the pool also,_" she replied back and smirked. "Maybe next time, my luck will increase."

"_Yeah, and there might not be a next time if I make you vanish for good,_" I retorted back wearily from the heavy exercise in the pool.

She leered. "_Asai Yuriko deserved it. She was hogging around Hanazawa Rui like a little slut, acting as if he belonged to her, flinging her breast into his face and trying to seduce him. His mind, body, soul, and heart is only for one person, and that person is me…_"

"_Uh… quick check, Toudou Shizuka. You're not a person, you're a ghost,_" I corrected her.

However, she didn't seem to like me correcting her words at all. "_You better be careful, and stay away from Rui. Rui's mine. He's my one and only Rui._"

I sprinted up the bleachers and quickly landed a punch into her face, without caring who saw me. They probably thought that I had gone bonkers, hitting the air. But seriously, did I care? They already hated me with my worn down clothes and my "flirtatiousness" towards F4. What's another one to add to the list?

"Tsukushi, what are you doing?" I heard Soujiro calling out at me.

"Nevermind me!" I shouted back. "Go and pull Yuriko up!"

A second later, I heard the sounds of splashes in the water, indicating that Soujiro had done what I told him to do. After all, this was the perfect chance, helping Yuriko as I was distracting Shizuka with punches.

"_If you really love him, you'll learn to let him go,_" I whispered to her as I punched her again.

"_I'll never let him go..._" she spat out angrily as she started to glide slowly up into the air, glowing. "_I already let him go once when I was living, and I've learned my lesson. I won't do it again. I'll never do it again._"

I paused, my mind in shock.

So THAT was the reason why she didn't go. I mean, move on to the afterlife. Everything in the universe was suppose to be in balance… people get born, people live, people die, and people go on to their afterlife, living again… yet forgetting everything they did in their past life. You know, the whole wonderful cycle that can never be changed. The perfect harmony that occurs for the balance in our universe to remain… well, balanced.

Yet, if something holds you back when you die, then the whole balance gets disrupted… and that was what was holding Toudou Shizuka.

Her love for Hanazawa Rui... and the regret that she had let him go.

Let him go exactly HOW, I don't know… but I intended to find out. Because I was already feeling guilty for punching Shizuka… after realizing what was holding her back.

It wasn't jealously. It wasn't hatred. It wasn't revenge. It was… simply love. Pure love.

However, if a ghost continues to stay here… in the living realm, then everything will be chaotic. For the ghost, such as Shizuka, no matter how nice, how wonderful, and how good she was while she was living… will turn evil. The ghost will slowly be consumed by hatred, and not only does it affect the people around it, but if it stays in the world any longer, chances of it going into afterlife will slowly decrease to 0 and once it does, there would be no choice for what the people of Yuui are suppose to do. We'll have to exorcise the ghost, either beating it or using our magic on it until it vanishes for good. And once it vanishes, guess where it goes?

Yeah, down there. The flaming fires of hell where they'll get brutally tortured for all eternity.

… This is something that no one deserves. No one at all. So you see why I have to convince Shizuka to move on? She doesn't deserve torture forever, especially since the main reason she refuses to move on is because of love, her love for one guy.

My thoughts got interrupted of feeling pity for Shizuka was quickly interrupted, however, when she did something that could have easily ended my life right there and then. She pushed me down towards the pool. Fortunately, she wasn't sitting very high up in the bleachers, probably like four or five seats up and the pool was really close, so guess where I fell in?

Yup, a loud splash into the pool told everyone that Makino Tsukushi fell in.

Unfortunately, I think my arm broke… and my head definitely banged into something hard… which caused me to become unconscious.

Again.

For the second time in one day.

On my first day of school at Eitoku University.

In front of everybody.

Including F4, four of the hottest guys I've ever seen.

And since nobody, at least nobody I know of, can see Shizuka… they'll just see me tripping down the bleachers and say "BEHOLD, THE CLUMSY PRINCESS OF POORVILLE!"

…

No comment.

----------

Darkness.

I regained conscious as I heard some voices debating… however, I didn't open my eyes.

My head was pounding like hell, as if someone got a huge iron hammer and started thumping my head with it. My arm felt weird and dislocated, a sort of numbing feeling was coming from there. My breathing was harsh and rapid, and it seemed like I had to try hard to breathe in air.

At times like these, I wish I was unconscious again, just so I wouldn't be able to feel anything.

"You do it!" This voice seemed to be Soujiro's voice.

"Are you kidding me? She already slapped Tsukasa for trying to put a towel on her! What if she wakes up and sees me?" Akira's voice rang out.

"So what?" Soujiro said again.

"So what? What are you talking about? What if she kicks my "place" where the sun doesn't shine?"

I smirked inwardly.

"It doesn't matter! Better you than me. I need mine to please the ladies."

"And I don't?"

"… Fair point. Nevermind then, Tsukasa, you do it then…" I could feel Soujiro grinning, even with my eyes closed.

"What…?" Tsukasa sounded extremely confused.

"Oh yeah… Tsukasa can do it. I mean, if Tsukushi wakes up and kicks you there, it wouldn't matter anyways… since we're still not sure if yours even works, and you're likely to remain a sad, lonely virgin forever anyways…" Akira laughed.

"YOU TWO WANT TO DIE?" Tsukasa yelled out, and I could feel feet scampering around.

A few seconds passed as I continued to lay there with my eyes closed, laughing to myself at what Soujiro and Akira kept on saying about Tsukasa and his virgin being. I mean, they were exchanging secrets! Who knew that the ferocious temper of the leader of F4 is a virgin? Anyways, I didn't even know what they were going to do that would cause me to kick their nuts. My curiosity held me back… so I pretended to still be drifting off in dreamland.

"You know… Tsukushi's probably going to be dead in a few more seconds, so one of us has to do it," Soujiro finally said.

There were a few seconds of pause.

DO WHAT, PEOPLE? DO WHAT?

And then, I felt warm hands on my face and I could feel somebody breathing down on me.

Oooh… so that's what they were arguing about. Who was going to be the one giving me CPR.

… wait….CPR consisted of mouth-to-mouth touching…

My eyes quickly flew open as I felt somebody's lips gently touch mine a little bit, and gathering my what little ounce of strength I had left, I used my arms and pushed back those broad, heavy shoulders away from me. I was SO NOT going to lose my first kiss to some guy I hardly knew.

First of all, before you laugh about me being a 20-year-old girl who has never kissed before, hear me out. After my parent's death and Sensei found me, my mind was too busy into revenging and studying with Sensei to worry about all those love stuff. After that, heavy training had followed at Kijutsu University. It wasn't some regular university with fraternities and parties. It was completely intense… every minute of it was not to be wasted because not only we were learning to save others, but we were also learning to save ourselves. So you see why Valentine's day and Cupid's arrows have never reached me in any way special?

Thankfully, the lips only touched me a little bit, hardly enough to be called a kiss. The person I shoved away from me?

Mimasaka Akira.

"What the HELL were you thinking?" I screeched out.

He blinked at me in surprised and regained his composure. "Well, see… I was trying to perform a little mouth-to-mouth action because you looked all hot, just laying there, motionless. And you're all wet too and pale too. Did you know that just turns me on?" he said sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes. "Ha-ha."

"What were YOU doing, just lying there and not telling us that you're awake?" Tsukasa demanded, once he got over the shock of me suddenly waking up.

"Well, you guys were telling secrets… If I opened my eyes, how would I have known that you're a virgin?" I said casually.

He narrowed his eyes. "If you tell anybody about it, I'll make your life a living hell..." he warned.

"... What are you going to do? Spread your virgin-ness to me?" I smirked.

Tsukasa stared at me and seemed to be in huge shock. "You're not scared of me…? Have you ever HEARD of Doumyouji Corp.?"

"Of course," I said impatiently. "I mean, who hasn't?"

"Then why…?"

"Let's just say that I've encountered much scarier things then… people made of money," I replied wearily.

He opened his mouth, but then stopped himself.

Silence... and then…

"Your bra is showing," Soujiro pointed out.

My cheeks grew hot as I looked down. True enough, because I was wearing a white shirt and it got wet, my dark blue bra was showing clearly.

"Uh… uh…" I stammered, and then quickly used my arms to cover my chest. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

Soujiro grinned. "Let's see… the view was great, and we used it to give Tsukasa a little sex education."

I glared at him, marched forward, and whacked him in the head. Right after that, Tsukasa came and hit in there too, in the exact spot.

"OW! I was just kidding!" he exclaimed, holding his bruised spot.

Hmph! I hope that spot grows into a big gigantic lump, and it'll repel every single girl away from him.

What a sex freak…

I could feel somebody putting a coat over my shoulders, and I turned my head around to see Akira. "Hey, thanks…" I smiled.

"No problem. Don't listen to Soujiro, there wasn't really much a view. In fact, there wasn't a view at all. I'm just covering it up so it'll save us the shock of how flat it is," he replied cheekily as he swept his hand over his hair.

And for that, I hit him in the back of the head too. Just then, I realized that there was one person short.

"Hey, where's Hanazawa Rui?" I asked.

Soujiro shrugged. "Probably off sleeping."

"Sleeping?"

"Yeah, he needs at least fifteen hours a day in order to satisfy him."

I bit my lip. I was kind of hoping I could ask Hanazawa Rui about Shizuka, but I guess I'll probably have to wait, just until I'm closer to him. After all, the sooner I get this over with, the sooner Shizuka will be able to rest in peace.

"Well…" I said awkwardly. "It's getting late, so I have to go…"

Akira looked at me, his eyes, I could tell, worried. "You sure you'll be able to get home in this… er… wet thing?"

I nodded and started to go for my backpack. "Oh, and by the way…" I started to say as I was walking away. "If I ever need CPR again, get someone else. By the time you guys are finished arguing with each other on who to give me mouth-to-mouth resurrection, I'd be dead already," I said grimly. "So you can see why I don't want to put my precious life onto either of your hands."

With that, I walked away.

However, I didn't walk to the bus stop, where I needed to go in order to get back to my lovely home with Sensei. I wanted to go to the rooftop, just to make sure that Hanazawa Rui wasn't there. After all, I didn't think anybody could go to sleep, right after the accident with Yuriko.

… Speaking of Yuriko… I wonder how she is…

Walking slowly up towards the rooftop, I pushed open the door, only to find somebody already sitting there on the edge.

"Hanazawa Rui…" I whispered.

Such a strange name as I was whispering it. Hanazawa Rui and Toudou Shizuka. What was the story behind his expressionless face and her angry, yet beautiful face? What had happened that caused him to become this way, a walking dead, yet full of emotion that I could not comprehend? What was hidden deep inside his heart… what does his feelings show… and why hide behind that impassive aloof face? Even though he attempts to show no expression, his eyes betrayed what his mind told him to do. His eyes followed his heart, and that was something that enchanted me towards him… pulled me towards him. What was the story of Rui and Shizuka?

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Meh, finally updated another chapter. It's been a while, neh? Oh, just to let you know, the way I update my chapters is at least 10 reviews per chapter, k? I'm not being stingy; I'd just appreciate some reviews so I'll know that people at least read them… so… anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter!

S.Y.


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